


Towards you

by Artfulstar



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Book 4: Earth, Canon Compliant, Earth Arcanum, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-TTM Story, THROUGH THE MOON SPOILERS, Worldbuilding, i swear there's fluff among this mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27719786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artfulstar/pseuds/Artfulstar
Summary: Struggling to pick up the pieces of his heart after Rayla leaves him, Callum starts to unravel secrets of Xadia's past with the help from a new sourceAs Rayla is on her own journey across Xadia, she meets and creates an unlikely bond with someone she never would have metHearts and relationships left behind, they start their own journeys, hoping to solve questions and erase their demons. But that's never easy. Not when you can't let go of your past
Relationships: Allen/Lujanne (The Dragon Prince), Callum & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Callum (The Dragon Prince) & Original Female Character(s), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ellis & Lujanne (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 56
Kudos: 38





	1. Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> I know I already have some ongoing fics, but when I get a plot bunny, I can’t let it go. So yeah, this is my new hyperfixation. Don’t worry if you also read my other stories. I do intend on writing them, but currently, my ADHD peanut brain has me completely focused on this.  
> A warning: this fic will be focusing a lot on worldbuilding, something I always love to explore with my fanfic. If that’s not your cup of tea at all, this fic is not for you. I can tone down the amount of plot regarding world-building, but I won’t be able to get rid of it completely for obvious reasons.  
> I hope you enjoy your stay!  
> A Trigger Warning: The first session contains descriptions of a panic attack. If that's something that's upsetting to you in any way, you can skip the first session and read the rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum wakes up on his birthday to horrible news

July 15th – Moon Nexus 

_“Dear Callum,_

_First of all, I know you’re going to get mad at me. I know I promised you something. But unfortunately, I can’t give you that. It’s not acceptable in my culture to break a promise, but I don’t care about it anymore._

_It’s not my brain that’s telling me to do this, but rather my heart that aches and beats for your love every second of the day. And it’s because of my heart that I broke my promise to you._

_As you read this letter, I have fled the Moon Nexus on a journey to find Viren on my own. I simply can’t risk putting you in jeopardy by any means. If I ever were to lose you, I don’t know what I would do besides hate myself for all eternity._

_Please, **do not** come after me. I know this will hurt you deeply, but it’s the only way to assure your safety. All the deceiving, lying, and pain are worth it if you’re okay. _

_I love you with all my heart._

_Rayla”_

Callum’s hands gripped the page tightly. As his eyes skimmed down the page, every word in Rayla’s handwriting made his head lighter.

He desperately looked around the room, in the hopes of finding her but it was useless. She was gone, completely. The bed she had slept on for the past two weeks was neatly made, the blue feather sitting right next to the letter he had found as he woke up.

He felt his eyes stinging. It couldn’t be real. This was just a prank. She was somewhere on the Nexus, waiting for him and to laugh at him for falling for her joke. It would hurt, but way less than… _this._

He felt his breath coming in short and hurried pants. It… couldn’t be real.

“Please…” he felt his throat closing, his voice coming out completely hoarse. “Please just…come back Rayla….come back…"

Tears rolled down his cheeks and he fell to his knees, his head spinning, thoughts spiraling out of control. His hands went to his face, making sure he felt his cold sweat on the palm of his hand.

“Callum! Hey, hey!” Ezran’s voice entered his mind but he couldn’t see his brother. He felt a hand on his shoulder and Callum felt a bolt of lightning running through his body, “Callum, you can get through this.” His brother’s voice filled his mind, “I’m here for you. Concentrate on your breathing.”

Ezran counted from 1 to 10 and Callum felt his heartbeat slowing down to a normal level. Slowly he could see the world around him. Ezran’s face was the first thing, then the floor he was sitting on, and the bed.

Slowly, he could feel the sensation of control washing over him again.

With this, he looked at Ezran, his eyes still stinging.

“Callum, what happened? We entered and you were crying and no one was helping you-” Ezran looked around the room, clearly feeling he was missing something, “Callum…”

The brown-haired prince prepared himself for the question.

“Where’s Rayla?”

* * *

It wasn’t an easy question to answer. He had no idea where Rayla was.

He just knew that she was on her way to find Viren. All alone.

He would assume that she wasn’t that far yet. But you could never doubt Rayla. Who knew how far she could go if she was really determined on finding Viren? Which she clearly was.

As Ezran read Rayla’s letter, Callum could feel his brother’s empathy running low.

Though Ezran was usually someone of immense kindness, Rayla’s decision of leaving Callum had clearly changed his demeanor.

And today of all days…

“You sure he’s going to be fine?” Soren asked as he and Ezran watched Callum gloomily look over the horizon of the Moon Nexus.

“Not sure. Rayla chose to leave on his birthday. I’m sure he was looking forward to spending today with her, especially after they got over their fight a couple of weeks ago.” Ezran felt his heart clench for his brother. It wasn’t fair that he was going through this.

“Well, is he going to celebrate his birthday?” Soren questioned, “Lujanne says she needs to know if she’s going to ‘waste one of her illusions on a cake’ or not.”

Ezran smiled weakly but didn’t know an answer.

* * *

Dusk arrived quickly.

But not for Callum. He seemed to be on another planet, his mind disconnected completely from his body. Rayla’s actions did a number on him and it seemed to have no return.

As the sky turned a gradient of blues and oranges, Ellis arrived at the Moon Nexus.

Her arrival didn’t go unnoticed, not by Ava howling when she recognized Lujanne and went to hug her.

“Hi, miss Lujanne!” Ellis said cheerfully, still on top of her pet wolf. Lujanne laughed at the messy hug and sloppy kiss Ava tried to give her.

“Hello, Ellis. It’s been a while, how are you?” the woman asked as Ellis came down from Ava to give her a hug.

“I’m great! My dad took me on a trip to Duren! Everyone wanted to give Ava a hug and she received a lot of snuggles!” Ellis giggled and looked at the wolf by her side, who barked in response.

“That’s lovely to hear. I do have some guests here at the Nexus at the moment.”

“You do? Not just Mr. Allen?” Ellis winked at the elf knowingly.

Lujanne laughed at the girl, wiping a tear from her eyes.

“Not just him!”

As if they heard the whole conversation, Ezran and Soren walked towards the pair. Ellis’s eyes went wide as she recognized Ezran.

“Ez!” She shouted and the boy immediately noticed her, a big smile opening on his features. The young king ran towards her and gave her a big hug.

“Ellis! Is so good to see you!”

“Same! It’s been over a month! I told y’all to not forget about me and Ava!” On cue, the wolf barked and licked Ezran’s face, which the boy laughed at.

“It’s good to see you too, Ava!” He laughed and wiped the droll of his cheek with his hand.

Soren awkwardly walked over to the girl, who immediately grimaced at him, remembering how he actively tried to kidnap Ezran, Callum, and Zym.

“H-Hi! I’m Soren.” The young blond tried but Ellis continued with her furrow. Soren bit his tongue and tried again, “Look, I’m sorry for threatening you with my sword. I was just… very frustrated. Can we start over?” He offered his hand to the girl, who looked at Ezran for some help. The young king only smiled and leaned his head towards the knight.

With that, she kindly smiled at him and shook his hand excitedly.

“Don’t worry about almost killing me! Trust me, I do that a lot by myself, you can say I’m kinda used to it.” She giggled and looked at Ava who nodded. Soren could only stare blankly at her as she laughed it off.

Before he could say something, Ava also gave him a big lick that ended up messing with his hair. He laughed and petted the wolf who smiled at him.

“Oh, Lujanne!” Ellis turned towards the Moon Druid, “you should’ve told me that you had guests, or else I wouldn’t have brought _her_ for a visit.” She whispered-screamed. Before Lujanne could ask who she was talking about, some footsteps on the stone path were heard.

 _“Great work with the illusions, Lujanne! You_ almost _got me with that spider!”_ A feminine voice unknown to Soren and Ezran echoed.

They stared at the shadows which the voice had come and a woman with dark shoulder-length hair, fair skin, grey eyes, and a cloak over her head appeared from the shadows. She was no taller than 5’4” and had a smile on her face and carried a basket with flowers.

The moment she could clearly see Lujanne, her eyes widened as she realized it wasn’t just Ellis, Ava, and Lujanne waiting for her.

“Oh. I didn’t know you had guests.” The woman tried to back away, pulling her hood over her head.

“It’s okay, Mrs. Lorelei! They’re my friends!” Ellis said, clearly afraid the woman would leave.

“It’s good to see you, Lorelei,” Lujanne said, a smile on her face.

With a bit more confidence, Lorelei walked over to the group, still a little awkward.

“Ezran, Soren, this is Lorelei, a good friend of mine.”

Immediately, Lorelei bowed for the young king.

“It’s an honor to meet you, your majesty.” She said, polite as she could, making Ezran embarrassed.

“It’s fine! There’s no need for the king thing, not here at least.” Ezran assured the woman who stopped bowing and smiled, “I had no idea Lujanne had other human friends besides Ellis and Allen if I’m being honest.”

“Human?” The woman paused for a second and shook her head, “O-Of course, I’m-”

“It’s okay, Lorei.” Ellis said, smiling sweetly at her, “I trust them. They’re not going to judge you. You don’t need to be afraid of them.”

The woman looked down at the young girl and let out a breath.

She set her basket down on the floor and with a quick snap of fingers, things changed.

As she lowered the hood down, everything was different. The fair skin had been replaced by brown skin with golden markings on her face. The grey eyes had turned golden and the short black hair was no longer short, but light green and had grown past her hip. The blue and white dress she wore disappeared to be replaced with a forest green short dress. The most incredible thing of all was definitely the antlers sticking out of her head and the lack of the 5th finger on both hands and feet.

Soren and Ezran were rendered speechless as the illusion of a short human faded away to be replaced with a taller elf. Taking her basket off the ground she picked a flower that hadn’t bloomed yet from it.

“Hello. My name is Lorelei. I am an Earthblood Archmage.” With a snap, the flower bloomed on its own.

“I am very confused but also, very charmed,” Soren said and the elf raised an eyebrow, not knowing what he meant.

Ezran gave him a jab in the ribs, clearly noticing that he made her feel awkward.

“Lorelei, you really live in the village as a human?” the elf nodded excitedly.

“Lorelei has been one of the few people who know about the location of the Moon Nexus and despite me being alone most of the time, she has been one of the few people that have made me company ever since she arrived a few years ago.” Lorelei smiled and tried to hide her embarrassment.

“Thank you, Lujanne. I can say the same thing to you.” The younger elf smiled put the flower she was holding back in the basket.

“Is there anything you need from me?” The Moonshadow elf asked.

“Oh, I just wanted to check if you were okay. I saw the bright light coming from the moon Nexus and I was worried something had happened.”

“Yeah! I saw it too!” Ellis added. Lujanne’s smile faded and a tired expression took place.

“To be completely frank, something did happen.”

“What?!” Lorelei and Ellis asked at the same time.

* * *

Callum couldn’t bother to do anything else today. Every time he tried focusing on something, his mind went back to Rayla and where she could be.

Ezran seemed to be trying his best to make sure he was happy on his fifteen birthday, but he didn’t know if that was possible. So he decided to hide from his brother.

He climbed a tree and sat on a branch, so he could get some time alone. But that didn’t work.

As footsteps were heard from behind him, he didn’t bother to look who it was, his eyes fixed on the sky.

“Ezran, Soren, I don’t want to talk with you both. Just leave me be.”

_“Well, I’m not one of them, will you talk to me?”_

The feminine voice caught his off guard, he looked down from the branch he was sitting on top of in the direction and saw an elf he couldn’t recognize was looking at him, a gentle smile on her features.

“Uhhh, who are you?” he asked, clearly confused. She didn’t seem to be a Sunfire elf, so the chances she met him on the battlefield of the Storm Spire were way too low.

“A friend of Ellis and Lujanne. They and your brother think I might be able to help you.” She said, “Can you get down so we can talk?”

Callum wasn’t sure of what was going on. Sure, he trusted Lujanne, Ellis, and Ezran, but could he trust her?

“I swear I’m not going to hurt you if that’s what you’re worried about. If you think it may be best for you, I can talk with you from here while you sit on that branch.”

Callum knew that he had no balance to keep up a conversation while he was almost 10 feet from the ground.

“I’ll get down. Just give me a moment.” Callum looked down and suddenly he forgot how he would get down. Certainly, it didn’t seem that tall when he was climbing, but now as he looked down…

“What’s wrong?”

“I… uh… I don’t know how to get down.” He said, clearly starting to get desperate. The woman raised her hand to her mouth in a thinking motion before she smiled.

With a motion of her fingers, Callum felt the tree respond to her. She drew a rune in the air and without saying any words. Callum saw the branch he was sitting on, extend to the ground like a children’s slide.

A little afraid, Callum slid down the brain smoothly, falling just a few inches off the ground.

The elf offered him a hand which he took and she helped him get up.

“Thanks for… getting me from there.” He said, still a little shy towards her.

“It’s no problem at all.” With a quick snap, the branch returned to its original shape and Callum watched it excitedly.

“Uh… the name is Callum.” The young prince said once he noticed he had been staring at the branch for a little bit too long.

“I know that” she chuckled and offered him a handshake, “My name is Lorelei and I’m an Earthblood Archmage.

“Oh! The earth arcanum elves!” Callum pointed out and Lorelei smiled before nodding.

“Exactly. It seems you’re well informed about Xadia. Do you like it?”

“Like it? I _love_ Xadia. The two weeks I spent there just wasn’t enough for me to enjoy it. There’s still so much to see!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed your time in my homeland.” Lorelei laughed in amusement and Callum tried to hide his embarrassment.

“You’re friends with Lujanne and Ellis, right?”

“That’s correct! For a few years.” She said, her smile not vanishing.

“Years? You’ve been living between humans for years?!” she nodded, “But how?!”

“With something this Nexus is very fond with.”

“Illusions!” He snapped his fingers once he connected the dots and once again she nodded, “but why would you choose to live between humans rather than your kind?” The elf’s smile vanished and was replaced with a very uncomfortable expression, “S-Sorry! I’m not going to pry!”

“Thank you. It means a lot.” Her smile returned, this time softer.

“So… you said that Lujanne, Ellis, and Ezran thought you could help me with my problem?”

“They think so. I don’t know full details about it, but I think it doesn’t hurt to try.” She smiled and sat on the ground, her posture aligned perfectly just like a queen, and her legs crossed in a meditation position. She patted the ground beside her, inviting Callum to sit with her.

He did, putting his legs in front of his chest and resting his back against the tree.

“Maybe you can start by telling me about your problem?” She said.

“It’s… not just _one_ problem. It’s the collection of various problems from the last two months that ended up exploding today.”

“But what exactly did it happen for it to explode?”

Callum took a deep breath and fidgeted with the end of his scarf.

“My girlfriend- no. The love of my life left me to go on a journey all alone _after_ she promised me that we would do it together. It isn’t the first time she does this but I thought I could trust her and-” he took another deep breath, “in the end I couldn’t. Now I’m worried something is going to happen to her and I won’t be able to help her. And her absence just… it pains me too much.” His voice shook and he could almost feel his eyes stinging again.

“Let me tell you a story, Callum. Years ago, I lost the love of my life. She didn’t run or she didn’t break up with me. Rather, she died and I couldn’t do anything to save her, despite being the last person she saw.” Callum looked up at her and he could see a few tears starting to form in her eyes, “But one of the things I learned from her was that love may be precious, but so is your life. Even if two soulmates are no longer together for any reason, doesn’t mean that they’re gone.”

“But I-I miss Rayla! I don’t know what I would do if something happened to her.”

“You need to know that Rayla truly loved you but she needed to make a choice between finding herself on a journey or keep being hunted with secrets.” Lorelei smiled at him, her golden eyes full of emotion, “You have a right to be mad at her, to be sad without her presence, but regardless, if you two end up finding each other again and she has these answers, believe me when I saw that you’ll both come out stronger than ever. Trust me. I learned it the hard way.” She chuckled and Callum swore he could hear the pain she was trying to mask with that laugh.

“I-I guess you’re right. She wasn’t the only one dealing with problems.”

“It still wasn’t nice of her to leave you, but people do the dumbest things when they’re lost.”

“Also something you learned it the hard way?” Callum said and Lorelei let out a booming laughter.

“Yes, you can say that.” Callum smiled and took a deep breath.

“Thanks for talking with me. It’s nice having someone who kinda knows what I’m going through.”

“I’m always here to lend a hand if you need one.” She smiled and leaned down on the grass, watching the sun finally set in the distance.

Callum does the same, wondering where Rayla is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Chapter:** We take a look at Rayla as she starts her journey to find Viren


	2. Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla seeks help from an old friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thanks for the support on the last chapter! I love that I already got some people hooked up on this! All of your comments make my day, you're all awesome!   
> Thanks to everyone who gave kudos and/or bookmarked! Y'all are great <3  
> The next chapter will probably be up in a few days, so don't worry about it!

July 17th – Wadelis Grove

Rayla wakes up, but she has no idea where she is.

Well, she knows she is in Wadelis Grove, but she has no idea how much she has to walk. She didn’t recall the forest after the Moon Nexus was so big.

Well, of course, she didn’t. She was riding on a Moon Phoenix with her closest friends after being proven right. She loved that feeling, though she didn’t feel it often.

But things were different now.

That Moon Phoenix was now only two weeks old. Those friends were left behind in an ancient ruin. And she felt like the worst person in the world. She felt like that most of her days.

Well, except when she was with Callum.

_Callum._

He is like Moon Rose to her. Beautiful, perfect and it should be taken care of so it stays healthy and safe from those who may want to hurt it, but if you do that, it’s clear that you’ll have to poke your hands, get them dirty, and put it in a safe place so no one, not even the gardener can see it.

And she was up for this. And even if she wasn’t, she didn’t have the guts to turn back.

* * *

After one day and a half of walking through the grove, Rayla feels Déjà Vu.

She sees the water ahead of her and she knows she’ll have to go through it if she wants to reach Xadia.

She could try going around it, but that would take days or even weeks. She didn’t have time. Viren was out there and he is a clever and wicked man. He could be plotting something right now and put it into practice before she has the chance to stop him.

She can’t take any risks.

She tries to remember the path to the port village. She remembers how Callum was the one who found it in the distance with his amazing eye-sight and how he quickly memorized the path towards it with his photographic memory.

He remembers how even though she hadn’t seen the village, she trusted him. She trusted him to take them to the village.

How things had changed.

Due to the midday light, Rayla follows the path of the sand around the water and quickly sees some buildings and ships in the distance, almost out of her sight.

She smiles. Callum would be proud of her.

* * *

Rayla puts her cloak up her horns and puts her hands behind her back. She stares at the city gate she hadn’t noticed when she came here the first time.

Above the gate, there’s a wood sign that says with big and capital letters “Harter Harbor Town” and the seal of Katolis on both sides. As she approached it, she noticed a large piece of wood on the ground with some kind of coverage over it. The wood had been painted with white and with black paint, she could read: **Welcome to Harter Harbor Town. Population of 213**

The numbers had been being painted on top of another for years as she could see black paint smudges under a very poorly done repaint of the white.

She scoffed, thinking that Callum would be slightly offended at the poor work of art.

She shakes her head. She shouldn’t be thinking of him now. She shouldn’t be thinking of him _ever_.

She turns away from the sign and enters the city.

She watches humans just doing their things. She sees some men carrying heavy wooden boxes and barrels. She sees kids with their parents going a stroll. She sees friends walking together to a bar while others go to a bakery as she smells the baked goods coming from the direction of it.

She takes a step inside the village and goes in direction of the harbor.

As she walks with her head down so no one could even take a glance at her horns or ears, she gets bumped by someone.

It isn’t strong enough to take her down so she immediately frowns and looks at the person that bumped into her, “Hey, watch where you’re going!” she says through gritted teeth to the young man that didn’t seem to be older than 20. She immediately expected to be called not so many nice names, after all, she was an elf that had screamed at some random human.

But he didn’t.

“I-I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking.” He said before continuing his way.

It took a few minutes to process. Of course, they would treat her right. She was disguised as a human. Humans tend to be polite with other humans.

She groaned. She really misses Xadia.

* * *

Rayla finally reaches a harbor and many boats are there, but she has no intention of going on any of them. She already knows where to go.

She stays quiet and focuses on her sense of hearing. For a few moments, she doesn’t hear what she wants until...

_“SQUAWK”_

Rayla smirks and follows in the direction, following the very loud parrot sounds and a very familiar pirate accent.

And she finds both of them.

Villads red hair is flowing in the wind as he faces the horizon and Berto is, like usual, on his shoulder. Rayla cleans her throat when she gets near him.

“Hello!”

The pirate turns around and Rayla sees that he hasn’t changed.

“Ahoy!” he says happily.

“It’s good to see you again,” Rayla says but upon his face of slight confusion, Rayla adds, “Villads with a silent D.”

Immediately, he cracks a big smile.

“Oh, ahoy, matey! Is very good to see ye again, too!” Rayla suppresses a laugh at the irony.

“See? You’re blind!” Berto says and Rayla tries to suppress her laugh even harder.

“Ah, ‘tis fair.” Villads says to his companion before turning in Rayla’s direction, “So, lass, what brings ye back to me harbor?”

“Well, you see-”

“And where’s yer crew? Those two lads and the two doggos?”

Rayla feels her throat close.

“I-It’s just me this time. They are somewhere else,” She wasn’t lying.

“Oh, I see! Do ye need a ride again?”

“Uh, yes! That’s precisely what I need. And to the same place too.”

“Ye sure love going to that city, ain’t it?” he laughs and turns to Berto, “Tell Ruth we’re not coming home for dinner!” The bird flew in the direction of the city, disappearing among the buildings.

“You’re not telling your wife that you’re sailing?” Rayla inquires.

“Of course not! Berto is telling her! We have to enjoy a clear sky like this one.”

“Don’t you feel bad about her? She has no chance of saying goodbye.”

“Why would she tell me goodbye if I’m returning soon?” He laughs again and walks towards the ship.

As Rayla tries to come up with an answer for him, she feels she has none. She is being a hypocrite. She didn’t allow Callum to say goodbye to her and she’s not coming back.

The parrot comes back as Rayla walks inside the boat.

She sees the pirate near the steering, preparing to sail.

“Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!” He screams and Berto takes flight to untie the sails as he pulls the anchor out of the water.

Before Rayla knows, she is in this boat again, but this time, alone.

* * *

Rayla spends most of her time under the deck. She feels like if she doesn’t see the water, she won’t feel like her stomach wants a war.

Well, that wasn’t the truth.

The feel of the boat makes her scared and dizzy and she no longer has Zym, Ezran, Bait nor Callum to distract her.

As the night falls, she takes her oil lamp of the room under the deck to Villads so he can light it up.

The old pirate is very concentrated and Rayla kinda feels bad about breaking it. She does anyway.

“Hey, Villads, can you light my oil lamp? It’s getting kinda dark under the deck.” The man turns to the elf with his friendly smile.

“Sure! Berto, watch Ruthless for me.” The bird squawks and nods, taking the position on top of the steering. The pirate goes down the steps towards the elf, a lighter in his hand. He took the oil lamp from her hand and quickly lit up the wick inside, “there ye have it!” he gives the lamp to her.

“Thank you.” She smiles and turns back.

As she prepares to walk down back to the room, she sees a familiar thing in the distance.

Her eyes widen when she sees the small house on top of the mountain that Callum went with Zym. She sees the small harbor where they stopped last time due to the thunderstorm.

She feels a tug in her heart and she turns away from it and the memories that start flooding her mind.

She lays on the slightly hard mattress and puts the oil lamp on the bedside.

She tries to stop thinking about it, but it is too late. She remembers the sensation of her stomach going crazy, the wet floorboards of the ship where she almost slipped several times, the drip on the ceiling that was one of the reasons she was awake almost all night, Callum’s “dumb idea face” and how her heart skipped when they were in the rain together, how he and his reckless ideas were the other reason she couldn’t close her eyes that night and especially when he was back completely fine and how their hug lasted longer than she thought it would, but how she couldn’t take it back.

She looks at the other bed, the bed that Callum and Ezran slept in. She remembers how glad it was to wake up the next morning and see that he was there.

Maybe he felt the same when she risked her life and managed to get out alive.

The loneliness was growing by the minute.

But she had to take it. _She was going to take it._

She _is_ going to stop Viren, no matter the cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Chapter:** Callum needs to decide what to do now


	3. Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezran asks what Callum really wants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I received an ask on my main Tumblr, asking if I had any physical references for Lorelei, so yeah I do! You can see it [here](https://i.ibb.co/yR2dnsy/artful-2.png)! This art was made by one of my favorite artists, [ Sigulary](http://sigulary.tumblr.com/)! Go support them, give them a follow or commission from them because they are amazing!  
> And again, thank you for the kudos, comments, and bookmarks!

July 17th – Moon Nexus

As the sun reaches its peak, Callum, Soren, and Ezran approach the garden of the Moon Nexus.

Allen is sitting on the bench, but his attention is fully on Ava who’s getting petted by him. Lujanne is setting the plates with the meals for lunch down while Ellis helps her.

“Welcome, boys!” Allen says as the three castle kids approach the table.

“Hey, guys!” Ellis says excitedly as she sets the last plate down on the table, “Y’all hungry? Lujanne made a very good meal for everyone!” The little girl smiles as she sits at the table.

The young men look at each other and feel their empty stomaches hurl at the thought of eating grubs disguised as actual food.

With a sigh, they approach the table, mentally unprepared for this.

As Lujanne cuts a piece of a pie, footsteps are heard coming from the path that leads to the entrance of the Nexus.

The silhouette makes it very easy to know who it is.

“Lorelei!” Ellis screams excitedly. The Earthblood has a gentle smile on her face and her basket has a green cloth over it, covering whatever she brought from the city.

“Hi, Lorei!” Ezran says, with almost the same amount of excitement as Ellis.

“Hey, you,” Soren says trying to get the elf’s attention to his wink, but she ignores it as she walks, looking around the Nexus. Callum only smiles and shakes his head at Soren’s not so subtle attempts of flirting with her.

“Hello, everyone! It’s nice to see you all again.” The elf smiles.

“Hello, Lorelei,” Lujanne says, her voice calm, “care to join us for lunch?” Lujanne motions to the piece of the pie that she had cut.

“Of course, but I’m not eating that and you know it.”

“Why?” The elder elf asks, doing her best to sound innocent.

“Lujanne, you know I’m vegetarian and I know enough about nature to say that grubs aren’t _plants_.”

“And what are you eating then?” The druid asks, slightly offended.

“This!” She puts the basket she was carrying on the table and takes the cloth off. Inside it, there were multiple vegetals and fruits.

“Where do you grow these?” Soren asks as he takes an apple from the basket.

“My garden! I use a special fertilizer and a little bit of Earth magic!” She giggles and takes a seat beside Callum, “Feel free to dig in, if anyone doesn’t want to eat grubs.”

Lorelei winks menacingly at Lujanne who just huffs and takes her seat without a word.

* * *

Lunch goes smoothly and quickly the basket gets empty.

“Thanks for the meal, Lorei!” Ellis says and hears Lujanne huff, “Oh, yours was delicious too, Mrs. Lujanne!”

Lujanne mutters something under her breath and gets up from the bench towards the ancient library, probably to meditate.

Lorelei giggles in amusement of the Moonshadow’s jealousy.

“I think I’m gonna head back to work! See you kids tonight for dinner.” Allen says as he gets up and puts his glasses on.

“Well, I think I’m gonna head to some quiet place like Lujanne,” the Earthblood says, getting up from the bench, “She’s not the only one who needs to meditate.”

From his side, Callum can see that Soren is trying to think of something to say, and before the mage can do anything to stop the blond, he blurts out.

“Do you want company?”

The elf turns around, a confused look on her features.

“I… I’m going to meditate. I can’t really do it if someone is talking to me.” She explains, probably trying to understand Soren’s train of thought.

“Well, I could just watch you while you do it!” Her golden eyes widen in confusion.

“T-That’s kind of weird. Meditation is something I really need concentration and inner peace, and I don’t think I can do it while I know someone is watching me.”

“Well, I-”

“Soren, you’re not good at flirting, you need to understand that!” Ezran says, clearly cringing at Soren’s attempts while Ellis is trying real hard not to laugh.

“Wait,” The elf says, “You were _‘flirting’_ with me?” She asks, even more confused.

“Uh… I was trying.” Soren says.

“Hm, how old are you?”

“18, why?” Lorelei’s eyes widen before she laughs, “Wait, what’s the problem?”

“It’s just-” more laughter. After a few moments of trying to calm herself down, she is able to finish her sentence, “I’m 9 years older than you.”

“What?!” Soren asks and Callum genuinely is surprised by it.

“You’re 27?” Callum asks and Lorelei nods, “You don’t look like it.”

“It’s because elves are supposed to live centuries, so after we are done with our version of puberty, our bodies have a more young appearance than an average human that’s gonna live for less than 100 years.” She explains, “so while I may look like a 20-year-old human, I am actually almost a decade older than that. And the gap just gets bigger as we live.”

“Oh… I see.” The young mage says.

“And besides, even if I was 20, I was never interested in men. I don’t think that’s changing anytime soon.” She says before turning on her heel.

When she’s far away, Soren sighs and lays his head on the table.

“Am I ever going to find someone that likes me?” He asks, rhetorically.

“Don’t worry,” Ezran says, patting him on the back, “there is plenty of fish in the sea, Soren. You just need to find it.”

Callum smiles but it quickly goes away as he remembers that he found his fish, but it escaped.

* * *

“I got a letter from Opeli!” Ezran says as he enters the bedroom. Callum is sitting on his bed, his sketchbook on his lap as he sketches the window before him. At the sound of his brother’s footsteps, he closes his book and turns his head to him.

“Yeah? What does it say?” His brother cleans his throat before his blue eyes scan the paper.

“ _‘Your Majesty, I am writing this letter to advise you to return to the castle soon. While I do expect you to be a child and have fun with your friends, this trip to the Moon Nexus has extended for far too long. The castle and the Kingdom of Katolis needs you. I’ll be waiting for your return. Signed, Royal Adviser and Member of the High Council, Opeli.’_ ” Ezran finishes reading and looks at Callum.

“So, you’re going back to Katolis, right?”

“Yeah. I’ve talked with Soren and we’re leaving tomorrow. I’m here to ask you to pack your bags so there’s no delay.” His little brother says as he rolls his letter back to the original shape.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“Callum, we are leaving back to Katolis.”

“And?”

“And you’re coming, right?” Silence. “ _Right?_ ”

“I-I can’t go back without Rayla, Ez.”

“What? I thought you were letting her go to find Viren!”

“I’m not! What if she comes back?! She’ll obviously come here and I don’t think she feels comfortable in Katolis to go there if she doesn’t find me here!” Callum says, his voice getting louder.

“Callum, I need you back home! You’re my brother, the only last bit of family I have close to me!” Ezran says and Callum can hear his emotion.

“Ez, you have such amazing people working in the castle, you have Soren and Bait. While Rayla… she has no one. She can’t go back to her village, she doesn’t feel comfortable in Katolis. She has no one but me, Ezran.”

“Did you forget she chose to leave you?!” His little brother’s words cut deep in Callum’s wounded heart, “What if she finds somewhere new? What if she creates a new life away from you? _What if she doesn’t come back?!_ ” Callum can see some tears starting to appear, “If any of those things happen, you’d be spending all of your life waiting for her?!”

Callum feels his blood boil and his throat get dry.

“Yes. It is worth it because it’s Rayla.” Ezran shakes his head.

“Then have fun being alone.” He turns around and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Callum feels his eyes sting and he lays in bed, feeling the tears coming.

* * *

_“Callum? Are you awake?”_

The prince cracks an eye open and the first thing he sees is a sea of green, but some moments after, his eyes adjust and the sea of green becomes waves of hair.

He gets up from the bed, cracking his joints and feeling his nose stuffy. He looks in the direction of the voice and finds Lorelei standing and looking at him with a kind smile.

“Hey, sorry to disturb your sleep.” She apologizes.

“Nono! It’s fine. I was going to wake up sooner than never anyway.” He yawns and rubs his eyes, “do you need anything?”

“Actually, Soren asked me to talk to you.” she takes a seat on the bed, “Did you and Ezran, by any chances, fight or something?” Callum blinks before groaning.

“Y-Yeah we did,” Callum fidgets with his scarf and looks at the ground.

“Is there anything you need advice from?”

“Wait, you also know about siblings fighting?” He inquires and Lorelei laughs, throwing her head back.

“Do I know about siblings fighting?!” She smiles and shakes her head before clearing her throat, “I have an older brother of 3 years. Even though we have clashing personalities, we were each other’s best friends for a long time. But once our parents died, he became cold and distant with me,” she sighs and looks away, “I was too young to understand the harsh reality of the world. So I thought that once we both got over grief, we would go back to being the best friends we always were, but that didn’t happen.” Her voice cracks but she continues, “One day, when I was learning Earth Magic, I played a prank on him. I thought it was funny but he didn’t. He…” She took a deep breath, “He said that if kept being so foolish, I would never make our parents proud.”

“Lorelei, I’m sorry he said that to you,” Callum said, his voice full of emotion too.

“I got so mad at him. I spent two months avoiding him.”

“That’s a long time…”

“Yes. And even if he chose the words that would hurt me the most, he was right. I needed to focus so I would be a better mage. My brother learned with that and so did I.” She smiled at Callum, “Even if Ezran hurt your feelings, he’s still your brother and he’s just doing what he thinks is the best for you.”

“But it isn’t. I want to stay and wait for Rayla!”

“Then tell him. Tell him what you really feel and let him also tell you how he feels about you staying here. You’re not the only one that’s going to be affected by this decision.” She smiles and gets off from bed. When she is in front of the door, she turns around, “Just think about it, alright?”

She leaves, leaving Callum alone with his thoughts.

* * *

“Lorelei!” Callum screams as he spots her under a tree on a hill, meditating. She turns around and looks at the young prince as he runs towards her.

“Callum? Is there anything you need?”

“No, I just want to thank you.” He smiles and stops to catch his breath,

“For what?”

“For helping me understand what I should do. I talked with Ezran and he understood me and I understood him.” The elf cracks a big smile on her face.

“Really? That’s lovely to hear!” She puts her hands together, “so what did you decide to do?”

“That’s why I’m here!” He says and looks away awkwardly.

“Callum?” the boy muttered something under his breath, “Sorry, I didn’t hear you, can you repeat?”

“Will you… be willing… to teach me Earth Arcanum magic?”

“Wait, what?” The woman’s golden eyes widened.

“Yeah! I already have one arcanum, so why can’t I learn another one?”

“So… if I accept that, would I be leaving for Katolis?”

“Nono! I’m going to stay here and wait for Rayla, so I thought that if I am staying here for some time, why can’t I learn something?”

“Uh… Well… I…” The elf was clearly confused by the whole situation.

“Well, you can say no. I’m not going to force you to teach me. That never works, it’s just a suggestion.”

“Well… The Earth Arcanum is very difficult to understand even when you naturally have it and I’ve taught some people before but they all had a small understanding of it. It’s going to be difficult for you and for me…” Callum’s face fell as the realization dawned on him, “I think I’m willing to try!” Now it was his turn to e surprised.

“Wait, really?”

“Of course! I love a good and challenging job, especially when it helps someone grow.” Callum smiled widely as Lorelei finally got up from the grass and put her sandals on, “but, as I said, it is going to be hard. It took me 10 years to graduate as a mage and I was learning since I was 6 years old. Are you up for the challenge?” She asked with an almost kind smirk on her lips.

“Yes! You can count on me!”

“Then, tomorrow we start, student.” She offers her hand to him. Not letting the opportunity pass, he shakes it.

“I’m looking forward to it, teacher.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Chapter:** Rayla arrives on the other side of the bay


	4. Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla enters a human town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter isn’t longer :( The drawing tablet I bought on the internet arrived Monday and I’ve been procrastinating and messing around with it instead of writing so forgive me <3 I promise the next one will be bigger

For a moment, she stops. Is she ready? Ready to throw away the life she created with Callum and his family? Those who now consider her part of the family?

She’s not sure of the answer.

As she wraps the letter she wrote for him and sets it on her pillow, the words she put into that piece of paper minutes ago go through her mind.

She really loves Callum. She wants to stay and keep the promise to him. But she can’t. She loves him too much for letting him risk his life on this.

She grabs her leather bag from the floor as she gets up from the bed. She takes a look around the room and her eyes fall onto Callum’s peaceful face as he sleeps. Probably the last time she’ll see him.

She watches him for a few seconds. His breaths going in and out evenly.

She smiles to cover the pain she is feeling.

“White lies are illusions you build with your words to protect the hearts of those you love.” She repeats what he said to her two weeks ago, “I’m sorry you can’t come with me.”

She leans in and kisses the top of his head, the last kiss she’ll ever give him.

As she turns away in direction of the door, she feels a hand on her wrist. This gets her by surprise, making the hood fall from her head. She looks and Callum is holding her by the wrist, his eyes barely open.

“Rayla, where you going?” he asks and she doesn’t feel strong enough to tell him using actual words. If there’s a moment she was weak, this was it.

“I… I am…”

“Rayla, where are you going?” He repeats the question and she shuts her mouth and looks away from him. He doesn’t say anything else, but his hand stops holding her wrist and holds her hand, interlocking their fingers, reminding her of how perfectly they fit.

“I am sorry, Callum, but I have to do this…” she tries to explain but her voice starts wavering and she can already feel her eyes stinging.

“Rayla, please don’t do this. I know we can solve this together.” He says and she already feels the sobs coming up, “I love you, Rayla.”

“And I love you, Callum.” She says, trying to look him in the eye.

“Then why are you leaving?”

“Because I love you so much that I can’t stand to lose you, even if I have to lose myself!”

“But what about me?! Do you think that I feel any different towards you?!” He says, his voice becoming louder as a single tear comes down his cheek.

“I-I-” Rayla tries to find words, but she can’t and Callum pulls her by the hand into his arms. The action is enough to make Rayla break.

As she sobs in his arms, she hears and feels some more tears coming from him. They hold each other tight for several minutes.

“Just… stay. If you really love me and really want me to be okay, just… stay.”

She takes a deep breath before sobbing even more and snuggling further into his neck.

_“…Okay.”_

* * *

July 18th – Bellcier Bay

Rayla feels her heart pound as she opens her eyes and sees no Callum besides her. She feels her cheeks wet with tears and her pillow has a wet stain on it. She groans.

“Of course it was a dream, stupid Rayla. You left him.” She says to herself, bringing both legs near her chest and putting her chin on top of her knees.

As she contemplates going back to sleep, she looks through one of the small windows of the room and sees some land in the distance, meaning she won’t have much sleep even if she tries.

With a sigh, Rayla steps into the daylight and surely enough, she can see land in the distance.

“Mornin’ matey!” Villads says and Rayla turns around to see him on the steering wheel of the boat, focused on the wind.

“Good morning, Villads,” Rayla says back to him and tries to put a smile on her tired face.

“I hope you had a good night of sleep because we’re almost done with our trip!”

“Oh, already? That’s great to hear!”

“Aye, I will be docking the ship on the same spot as last time, so you can take the same path you took last time to… wherever you and your friends went.” He laughs and concentrates on the boat again.

“Well, I’m going to cross the border to reach Xadia.” She explains.

“Oh, not many dare to do that. Ye’re brave, Rayla!”

Rayla smiles a little but her smile disappears quickly.

“I’ll be getting my things from below the deck if you need me.” She says and steps down onto the room.

She tidies the bed just like she did while in the castle, she gets her cloak and puts it on, not wanting to risk to be seen by anyone as soon as she comes out in the light again. She gets her bag from the floor and puts it on her shoulder, checking briefly the amount of food she still has.

When everything seems in place, she goes back up and watches as the land gets closer and closer.

Berto squawks just as the boat approaches a dock and Villads stops. The parrot flies down to tie the ship to the dock and goes back to the shoulder of the pirate.

“Well,” Rayla starts as the pirate walks down the steps towards the entrance of the boat and kicks down the wooden ramp, “thanks again for the help. I really needed it.” She smiles.

“Ye gotta do what ye gotta do, me hearties!” He extends his hand for a shake and Rayla shakes it excitedly, before walking down the plank into the dock.

As she walked away from it, she heard Villads scream:

“Good luck goin’ back home, Rayla!”

The words make Rayla stop. She had told him she was going into Xadia. Did he... _know?_

She turns around and he’s no longer there, only the ship.

She was imagining things. There’s _no way_ Villads knew she was an elf all along.

She shrugs and continues walking towards her next stop.

* * *

Rayla knew it was risky passing by a human village when she first arrived at the bay. Even if it meant that it would take a few more hours to find a suitable place to sleep inside the forest, there was no way she was going to risk it again.

But now, she had no choice. She needed to be fast and the quickest way to the forest was through the village set between the mountains and that was attacked by Pyrrah almost two months ago.

So she walked inside the village, carefully watching her surroundings and making sure her hood didn’t show her elven features.

She tries to be quick whilst going through it, but she quickly finds herself in the middle of a street market with dozens of people and no way around it. With a sigh, she decides to test her fate and dives inside the crowd

Rayla says several “excuse me” and “can you let me through?” but most of them don’t work.

As she begins to hate crowds even more than she wanted, she tries to stand on her tiptoes to get a better look at the mess.

Her eyes quickly scan the crowd and find an exit a few feet in front of her but a single thing makes her lose sight of it again.

Her eyes focus completely on a red blur she sees in the crowd and a few seconds later she can distinguish that blur as a red scarf and her heart pounds on her chest with the memory of Callum. Not caring much about the others, she pushes people out of her way towards the person with the red scarf.

“Callum?” she asks as the person stands just a few feet from her. The person wearing the red scarf turns around and Rayla’s heart drops.

It isn’t Callum. The boy in front of her doesn’t have his emerald eyes or his cute and handsome face. Rayla closes her eyes and turns around before they can see her face.

 _Of course it isn’t Callum, Rayla. You’ve already gone through this. He’s not coming after you,_ she scolds herself mentally, lowering her head and fighting back the tears that seemed to be threatening to come.

Slower than ever, she navigates through the crowd in the direction of the exit she found. As the noises get more distant, she spots the forest after the city.

Next stop: The Moonstone Path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Chapter:** Callum gets started with his training


	5. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum trains with Lorelei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again this chapter is coming out a little late, I’m having the final exams of the year before the holidays and I’m kinda busy with organizing my life for 2021 and at the same time organizing the things for my upcoming birthday. Life has been very messy, but hopefully, after all of this is done I can go back to writing like before.   
> Once again, thank you for the feedback in the last chapter! I know it wasn’t what was expected, but I’m glad that not many people saw a problem with that (some people did but I’m glad that wasn’t true for everyone.) I hope you enjoy this chapter <3

July 19th – Moon Nexus

As the sun rose above the horizon of the Moon Nexus, Callum exited his private residence. He could still feel the sleep on his body, begging him to go back to bed.

He yawned and threw his arms above his head, in an attempt to shake the tiredness off him.

“Don’t worry Callum…” he told himself “if this training is anything like swording lessons in the castle, you’re getting a wake-up call soon.”

He rubbed his eyes and took a look around the scenery of the first rays of sun shining in the Nexus.

The grass and leaves still had the dewdrops of the night on them. The stone path was reflecting the sunlight, making it almost shine. Callum could hear birds chirping on the trees and the wind was revigorating.

From what he knew, Lujanne wouldn’t be awake yet for a few hours and Allen was probably at his home back in the small village near the foot of the mountain. Ezran, Soren, and Bait had left yesterday, so Callum was alone.

Well, not alone.

He walked the path up a small hill and just like he thought, Lorelei, his teacher, was sitting on the grass, her back towards him as she seemingly enjoyed the sunlight on her face.

Callum took a few steps forward, determined to surprise his teacher with his unusual awakening in the mornings.

But before he could even properly prepare for that, she caught him off guard.

“Good morning, Callum.” She said, not even bothering to look in his direction, “I would hope you weren’t trying to surprise me, right?”

Callum was speechless for a few moments. He wasn’t expecting her to notice him.

“Uh, no! Definitely not trying to do that!” he says in the midst of clearing his throat. She chuckled and finally turned to look at him, a knowing smirk on her face before looking at the sunrise once again.

“Did you have a good night of sleep?”

“Uh, yes, though I would’ve loved to sleep a little more…” he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

“Don’t worry, it’s not going to be something regular like it was for me.”

“Did you really wake up as the sun rose every day when you were a kid?”

“When I was your age, yes. Though on some days, it was before it did,” at her response, Callum gulped and his eyes widened.

After a few seconds, she let out a big breath and muttered a few words under her breath before looking at the prince.

“So? Shall we start your first lesson?” she asked, still on her meditation pose. Excitedly, Callum nodded his head, a big smile on his face.

“Yes! Let’s do it!”

“Alright, come over here.” The elf said and Callum walked towards her, his mind racing with the runes she would teach him. He stopped once he was almost by her side and looked down at her, waiting for her to get up.

But she didn’t. Instead, she motioned him to sit down by her side. Callum’s smile faded and it was replaced by confusion, but still, he obeyed and sat by her side.

“Put your legs in the same position as mine,” She said and though he was still confused, he did. “and now close your eyes.”

“Wait what?” he inquired, looking to her on his side.

“What? This is your first lesson, Callum.” She replied back, still looking towards the horizon.

“so, my first lesson is meditating?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you’d teach me some cool spells! Like a rune to manipulate the ground or something!” He raised his voice and she looked at him.

“That’s… not how it works, Callum.” She replied awkwardly, “I didn’t learn how to do spells until I was two years into my training.”

“But, when I talked with Ibis, a sky mage on the Storm Spire, he told me that it was one of the first things he learned!”

The elf let out a tired sigh and Callum suddenly felt some guilt on his part.

“Listen Callum. Just because we are both mages, doesn’t mean we were created and taught the same way.” She said, losing her peaceful posture for the first time, “Every single kind of elf learns things a different way than the others. Sure, a Skywing may learn some runes as the first thing on their training, but that’s not going to be true for all of the others. Is like saying all humans are all the same because they’re humans. You may not learn the same things a prince from another human kingdom has and that’s perfectly fine.” She tried to smile at him.

“I was taught that culture is the most important thing that the elves have to differentiate ourselves, but others may have been taught it’s our different types of arcana and others may think it’s the fact that I have antlers and they don’t. That doesn’t mean what they learned is wrong, is just… different.”

Callum looked at the grass under him, speechless by what she had just said. After a few beats of silence, he spoke.

“I’m sorry, Lorelei. I didn’t mean to insult you. I really didn’t. you’re offering to teach me about your culture and I couldn’t even respect that.”

“It is fine, for one I’m glad that I get to teach someone after so many years and that I get to teach you about my culture as I do it.” She smiled at him and restored her posture. Without having to say something, Callum mimicked her position again and closed his eyes.

“Concentrate on the ambiance around you.” She whispered, “Take notice of the leaves of the trees moving with the wind, the rocks surrounding you, the grass under your body. Though they may sound small in comparison to giant mountains or massive forests, they are just as important to this world and you should appreciate them.”

Callum took a deep breath and did as she said. He felt the grass with the morning dew on his clothes, he heard the wind and leaves moving in harmony.

Though it was supposed to be something boring, he hadn’t felt such peace in a long time.

* * *

When Callum heard her mumble words under breath again, he felt it was time to open his eyes. When he did, he looked at her, who had a proud smile on her lips.

“How do you feel?” She asked and Callum didn’t know how to put it into words. It wasn’t the type of peace he would get when drawing or reading. It felt different. Everlasting in some way. Some kind of peacefulness after the raging storm that had been the last four days.

“I feel… great.” He said, not able to put those thoughts into a coherent sentence. Besides the peace he felt, all of his tiredness had disappeared and he felt even more ready to start the day, “Thank you. _Again_.”

“For what?”

“Believing that I am worthy of learning what you know, despite me only being a human who got lucky of unlocking an arcanum.” He said embarrassed, his voice barely a whisper.

“Don’t say that, Callum,” she rested a hand on his shoulder, “even if you got lucky of understanding the Sky arcanum, you’d still did it. You’re the first human archmage of history. That’s something you should wear it with pride.” She squeezed his shoulder and threw at him an encouraging smile, “I feel very honored to be the one teaching you about Earth Magic and sharing part of the most important aspects of my culture with you.”

“Do you meditate about those things you said every morning?” He asked and the elf nodded, “Is that part of your culture?” She nodded again and took her hand off his shoulder.

“Is something rooted in Earthblood culture, especially for those who use their arcanum for magic. I could’ve been born with any arcanum or no arcanum at all, yet I was chosen to have the Earth Arcanum that allows me to do magic. Is one of the many ways Earthblood culture has to show gratitude for Meira for giving us a way to survive.”

“Meira?” Callum inquired.

“Meira the Healer is the deity responsible for the creation of the Earth Arcanum and every creature that has it, including Earthblood elves.” She explains and Callum nods his head in understanding.

“Does this mean if you don’t meditate, you may be cursed by her?” Callum asks, clearly worried.

“Oh no, no! Meira was described as the most forgiving of the creators of Xadia. Even if a mage doesn’t meditate, they’ll still be able to perform magic as normal, though they may not be as in peace and harmony with the Earth, but I believe that’s completely psychological.” She smirked, making Callum unsure.

The elf looked back at the horizon and turned to her student, “We still have time before Lujanne decides to wake up, you got any more questions?”

“Uh… yes! When I was arriving here, how did you manage to know that I was behind you without looking at me?” He asked, his eyes slightly shining with curiosity.

“That’s going to remain a secret for now. Maybe one day I’ll figure it out or I’ll tell you.” She winked and giggled while Callum pouted and sighed in disappointment, before coming to a realization.

“Well, I have another question.” He said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Go ahead.”

“Do you… do you know anything about Moonshadow culture?” She stayed silent for a few moments.

“I know some things. Why do you ask?”

“Do you… do you know anything that I could possibly have made to make Rayla upset with me?” he said, not bothering to look the woman in the eyes.

“I can’t confirm anything, Callum. I never met her and I don’t know her as you do.” She said, a sad smile on her face, “but you can’t forget that Rayla may be a Moonshadow, but she’s still her own person. Maybe her culture had nothing to do with her leaving you. You have to find these answers on your own.”

Callum sighed sadly and looked at his hands before looking at the elf beside him.

“Thanks. I don’t know how I’ll do that, but I’ll try.”

“That’s the important part.” She smiled sincerely and he did the same.

* * *

When the night fell, Callum couldn’t stop wondering where Rayla would be right now.

Once again, he looked at the other bed inside his room and the emptiness he felt hit him again.

He looked out the window towards the Moon shining brightly in the sky and he couldn’t help but think even more of her and how he wished things would’ve turned out different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next chapter:** Rayla tries to reach the Moonstone Path


	6. The Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla tries to rest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year’s folks! I had a messy first week, with my birthday on Sunday and all the craziness of the world that just happened. Remember to stay safe and well!   
> Once again, thank you for all the support in the last chapter! I wanted to try something different and present some of my worldbuilding ideas and I’m glad it suited for y’all!  
> I know this chapter is short, which is why I am putting up the next one just as this one comes out! I hope you enjoy it!

July 19th \- Cave, Katolis

Rayla knows where she’s headed. The path from two months ago is still fresh in her mind. She recognizes the trees, the rocks, the patches of grass that lead her and her friends two months ago.

She recognizes the stone ramp that leads her to an all too familiar cave from months ago, the small cave that was a shelter for her and her best friends for a couple of days before their journey in Xadia really began.

Of course, it was also the same cave where she saw Ezran discover his father’s death, the same cave where Callum agonized during his Dark Magic coma, and the same cave she almost confessed to him.

How things had changed.

Who would’ve thought that she would take shelter here again, but without Ezran’s laughter, without Zym’s yipping, without Bait’s grumpiness, and without Callum’s… everything.

She glanced towards the end of the ground under the cave and her mind was flooded with memories of the first night here.

_“You practicing magic or are you losing to Bait at a game of rolly-cubes?”_

_“Magic. I think I’m getting close. There’s so much swirling around in my head, but I need a way to bring it all together.”_

_“Like some kind of breakthrough?”_

_“Yeah.”_

She smiled at the memory of how badly she was able to describe her arcanum to him. She remembers how he was skeptical about crossing into Xadia through the river of lava and how excited she was to show him the Moonstone Path.

_The Moonstone path…_

She looked up at the horizon and saw the sun high and up. She had a few hours until the moon was finally ready to reveal the path.

Rayla sighed and ran a hand through her white hair. Even though taking the shortcut through the village was the best option for her, she still had walked all the damn night to get here. She really needed rest before she went into Xadia.

She entered the cavern and choose a spot that was shadowed by some rocks. There, she put her bag as a makeshift pillow just like she had done to Callum in his Dark Magic coma. It wasn’t the best feeling in the world, but it was better than laying the cold stone floor.

She closed her eyes, quickly falling asleep.

* * *

_“Help!” Callum shouted in his dark magic coma as Rayla looked at him, scrambling around. Even though she was mad at him for doing such foolish and disgusting things such as messing with dark magic, she couldn’t deny that she felt bad for him. “Help.”_

_“You’ll get through this,” she said as she kneeled and grabbed a soft piece of cloth, slightly dabbing against his sweaty and pale face, “You big dumb human.” Her voice softened at the last words, hoping that if he could somehow hear her, he would take those words into consideration and not the ones where she was screaming at him for saving her arse from those guards._

_Minutes went by and Callum gasped, suddenly struggling to breathe. Rayla’s eyes widened as she held him by his shoulders._

_“C-Callum? Are you okay?!” She tried talking to him, but he continued struggling to breathe as if he was drowning and had no way of going up. Rayla could feel her heartbeat going faster and her eyes stinging from tears already forming, “Callum!”_

_She held him close to her. His head on her shoulder as he still gasped and panted for air._

_“Callum! Please, come back! It doesn’t matter what you did before! I just want you to be okay again!” She begged him but to no avail._

_As his breathing got more shallow, all of their moments together started racing through Rayla’s mind. When they first meet, when she first trusted him, when she opened up to him for the first time, when she started to see him as maybe something more just a few days before on that storm._

_“I can’t lose you like this! You mean too much to me!” He really did, in more ways than she ever thought about it before this exact moment. She let go of him, finally looking at his face, “Callum, I…” She reached her hand towards his face, not sure if she could let the words she was trying to say to him get out, “I...”_

_Before she could do anything, Callum gasped once again and opened his eyes, making Rayla back and take her hand off his face._

_He looked at her, his eyes widened._

_“H-Hey! You’re awake!”She said, her forced smile_

_She had almost slipped what she felt for him. It was close._

_As Ezran bid his goodbye to them, Rayla could only wonder what the future was planning for both of them and if she was ready to take it._

* * *

The sound of water hitting the ground made Rayla wake up from her sleep. She opened one of her eyes and looked to the entrance of the cave.

Outside it was raining heavily and the sky was dark, the moon clear on the sky.

She had no idea how long she was asleep. It could have been just enough hours for the moon to come up or she could have slept too much for her liking.

Either way, she needed to go. The Moonstone path wasn’t that far from the cave. One hour of a walk.

Rayla stretched her arms above her head and sat up from the cold floor, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to shake away the sleepiness.

She could feel her eyes were watery and her cheeks were slightly wet. She sighed and thought back at the memory of the dark magic coma. For the last days, all she could think about is Callum, how she missed him, and how this whole journey would have been way easier if he was here with her. To warm her when the nights were cold, to hold her hand as they walked into the forest, to make her smile when he eventually pointed out the places they had been before on their first journey.

She shook her head.

This wasn’t time to think about him. She was almost on Xadia. Once she got on the other side, there would be no way back for her. She can’t have regrets. Not now, not never.

She quickly got up from the floor, rubbing the wetness of her eyes and cheek.

With her cloak up her head and her bag on her hip, she got out of the cave, ignoring the pouring rain above her.

* * *

The moment she hears bubbling lava, she knows she has arrived at the path. She looks around and sees the small passageway that allows her to see the hidden path.

As she expected, the moonlight shining down the stones show the way through the hot lava river.

As she is about to step into the first stone with a glowing rune, she looks back towards the forest and towards the west as a whole.

“I’m sorry Callum,” She said, the sound of the rain and the lava almost muffling her words, “I promise I’ll go back to you.”

And with those words, she jumps into the first stone, well aware that Xadia is right in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Chapter:** Dinner time at the Moon Nexus


	7. Starry Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lorelei teaches Callum a bit about Xadia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I love bringing callbacks to stories I’ve written before! This chapter has references to my [Rayllum Birthday Bash “Written in the Stars”](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24651958/chapters/60064348) and also to the [skit from SDCC19](https://youtu.be/gJHB0ld2YMc) of the same name.

July 20th, Moon Nexus

“And that’s why I will never go to a Moonshadow wedding again!” Lujanne said finishing her story, tears of joy in her eyes. The whole table erupted into booming laughter.

“W-Wow!” Callum tries, “I can’t believe that happened!”

“But it did!” Lujanne says with a smirk, clearly proud of making everyone at the table laugh.

“I’ve heard this story dozens of times from Janey-Lu, but it never fails to make me laugh,” Allen says and smiles towards his girlfriend.

“Ahaha… my stomach is hurting!” Ellis says, wiping a stray tear from her eyes and trying to calm herself down.

“You should get some food into that, then,” Lorelei replies, already putting her _non-grubby_ vegetables on her plate. Lujanne notices it and pouts.

“When will eat my food, Lorelei?!”

“The day that an Earthblood elf creates wings. Or the day you stop using grubs in your illusion food. Whichever comes first,” the younger elf says, shrugging her shoulders with a small smile, and Lujanne huffs, crossing her arms across her chest before grabbing her “illusion dinner”.

“Don’t be like that, Lujanne!” Ellis said, “Me, Ava, Allen, and Phoe-Phoe love your illusion food!”

“Yes, Janey-Lu, it’s better than anything I can get at the village.” Lujanne smiles at the words and goes back to her plate.

Meanwhile, Callum is busy taking the food from Lorelei’s basket, hoping Lujanne doesn’t notice.

When he’s done, he looks at Lorelei who winks at him and shakes her head with a hidden smile.

“Hey look!” Ellis said with her mouth full and swallowed it before continuing, “We can see the stars tonight!” She pointed up and everyone at the table looked up.

The clear sky allowed Callum to see the stars and the constellations above him. He smiled as the memories of laying in the grass back in Xadia and looking at the stars with Rayla flood his memory.

He wipes a stray tear that threatens to roll down his cheek.

He looks at the Earthblood elf on his side and sees her golden eyes glinting and slightly watery as she smiles up at the stars. She closes her eyes for a second and immediately wipes her eyes. Callum doesn’t understand.

“I see that Garlath’s Flail of Poison Thorns is strong as ever,” Lujanne says and Callum looks up at where the Moon mage is looking and he sees-

“I see no flail! I only see the two fish who are friends!” Ellis said, tilting her head to possibly get a better angle.

“I have to agree with the little girl, Janey-Lu. I always saw those stars as two fishes and I’ve known about that since I was a young boy.” Allen says and adjusts his glasses, trying to see what Lujanne sees.

Callum says nothing, as he looks at the sky and remembers a part of their conversation about stars.

_“Can I tell ya something?”_

_“Sure.”_

_“The thing with Garlath is something between Moonshadow elves. If ya were to show the same constellations to a Skywing elf, they might give ya a different answer.”_

“Hey Lorelei,” Callum says, “What do _you_ see?”

“On that constellation?”

“Yes.”

“I see Meira’s Cerimonial Bow.”

“A bow?” All the other people at the table said in unison.

“Yes. It’s her ceremonial bow that’s still in possession of the Royal Earthblood Family. They use it in important ceremonies like royal weddings, the birth of a new royal family member, the opening of festivals in the city, the funeral of royal family members, etc.”

“Well, I don’t know how you can see anything other than two fishes,” Ellis said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Well, Rayla told me once about it,” Callum started, “I don’t remember the exact words but she explained that every type of elf sees the stars differently from the others and that is all rooted in their culture and how they’re taught to see the world. The same thing happens with humans and I believe it’s because we were never taught to see the constellations the elves do since no human knew or cared to write about them before we were divided.”

“That’s a good theory, Callum.” Lorelei says and looks up at the sky again, “That one” she points up, “Is Meira’s Healing Tent” Callum recognizes it as the mama banther and the baby banther or as Rayla said, _the pile of Garlath’s broken enemies with his Merciless Boot of Crushing,_ “That other one is Meira’s Bottomless Pouch of Secrets,” the smiling bunny or _Garlath’s Bandelier of Skulls,_ “And that one is Meira’s All-Seeing Blindfold!” the sled or _Garlath’s Blade of Sundering_.

“It seems like those are way less violent than the ones Rayla told me about,” Callum laughs.

“Well, it’s hard to compete on that when I have Meira the Healer, and Rayla has Garlath _the Annihilator._ ” Lorelei jokes and Callum smiles awkwardly.

“That’s fair.”

* * *

“Hey, Lorelei!”

The elf turns her head around as she hears Callum’s voice. She was about to enter her private cabin on the Nexus but stops, her hand on the handle.

“Hello, Callum. Is there anything I can help you with?” She says, letting go of the door and turning her body fully to face him.

“Well… Yes, actually.” He fidgeted with his scarf before clearing his throat, “I didn’t want to ask you this when we were at the table… but I couldn’t help but notice it,” the elf tilted her head and raised a brow at the human prince, “When you were looking at the stars when Ellis pointed it out, I saw your eyes tearing up.” Callum noticed her body stiffening and her eyes widening.

“Yes… they did. What about it?”

“I was just wondering why-”

“Listen, Callum,” she interrupted him, “I’m not comfortable sharing that with people.” She says, her expression slightly pained as she grabbed her right wrist with her hand and adjusted her silver bracelet, “Is something really personal to me.”

“Oh… Sorry. It’s just… I also got emotional when looking at the Stars because I thought about Rayla in our journey to Xadia. It was a good feeling even if hurt me. I didn’t know if it was the same for you and I didn’t know if you were okay so…” he rubbed the back of his neck, “are you okay?”

The elf took a deep breath before releasing it, not letting go of her wrist.

“I’m fine, Callum, trust me.” She smiled.

“Oh. Okay.” He let go of his neck and came back to fidgeting with his scarf, “Are we training tomorrow?” he inquired, trying to shift the mood.

“Yes, of course.”

“Right after the sunrise?”

“Hmm…” she stopped and put her hand on her chin, deep in thought, “No.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes. Meet me after lunch. We’ll do something different this time,” She smiled.

“Okay! Thank you, Lorelei. Have a good night.” He said, almost not being able to contain his excited smile.

“Good night, Callum.” She said, turning around to grab the handle of the door.

As Callum slipped under the covers of his bed, he thought about one day laying in the grass with Rayla once more, talking about the stars and their future together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of this month will be very busy for me. I will be doing a very important test to enter my university so I’ll be studying like never before. I’ll try to update it but I don’t promise anything.   
> Thanks for all the birthday wishes I got on my socials last Sunday. They made my day way better <3
> 
>  **Next Chapter:** Rayla's first night in Xadia


	8. Stupid & in Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla reminisces about the night after Sol Regem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m back! I took a trip to a small city in my state to relax and celebrate my mom’s birthday on Saturday. I didn’t exactly write, but I did start a small project called “Snippet Thursday” on my TDP sideblog and I posted a WIP from a future chapter of this story so if you're interested in that, go check it out!  
> Once again, thanks for your patience regarding this story, this week is very hectic for me since I have a test on both Saturday and Sunday but regardless, I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter! Thank you again for the amazing support I’ve been receiving, it’s honestly crazy and I’m very grateful for every person reading this story <3

July 20th, The Forbidden Passage

There were a lot of things that Rayla hated about this trip so far, but if she had to pick one, she could do it in a heartbeat.

Sol Regem.

She never thought she would need to sneak around the old Archdragon twice, but she did, this time with fewer bruises but definitely more scared for her life.

The last time she did this, she had Callum and Zym to keep her grounded and the fact that the blind dragon was stuck between a rock formation thanks to Callum, made it easier for her to rest and calm her heart.

This time she didn’t have to appeal for her least favorite course of action. She did it the way Runaan had taught her. She avoided the dragon by avoiding his hearing and smell.

It was significantly more tiresome than last time? Sure. Did she remember exactly the way out of the canyon? No, but she managed.

After taking the wrong turn five times.

Eventually, the sun came down and Rayla took shelter in a small cave inside of the canyon.

As she settled for the night, lighting up a fire and setting up a makeshift bed, she started hearing things.

Some yipping and zapping echoing in the small grotto and she immediately recognized it as Zym’s. She looked around but saw no baby dragon.

She shrugged the sounds away and went back to finishing up her bed.

And she heard it again.

The zapping sounds, the yipping, but this time there was another sound echoing.

A very familiar laughter.

_Callum’s laughter._

She looked around, hoping to see something but there was nothing.

Why would the cave echo these specific sounds?

Why-

Pieces of a puzzle started falling into place.

The laughter became more prominent.

Then it clicked.

She had been here before. With Callum and Zym.

This was the same cave they took shelter for the night after Sol Regem.

* * *

“Okay Zym! Now be a good dragon and eat your food.” Callum said to the baby dragon as he set the baby dragon on the floor and put a few fruits and bugs Ezran had collected for Zym yesterday. Ezran clearly knew what he was doing when Zym happily yipped and munched on the food.

That was one of the few things Rayla could pay attention to. Her head was killing her and she could actually feel the bruises in her arms and body from all those rocks that had fallen on her that day.

She closed her eyes for a second and threw her head back against the wall, wishing the pain would go away, but it didn’t.

Footsteps approached her, Callum. When he didn’t seem to move, she cracked an eye open and looked at him, but she wasn’t expecting him to be with his face to be so close to hers as he kneeled and looked at her bruises.

Her heart pounded really hard and all of her blood was now running towards her cheeks and the tip of her ears as she felt them twitch slightly from the surprise.

“What are you doing?” She managed to speak out, despite her flustered state.

“Well, now that Zym is feed, I’m going to take care of you.” He said sweetly, making her face get even hotter.

He examined her face and the purple bruises on her arms and her scrapped skin before getting up, walking towards his bag, searching for something.

Eventually, he smiled and took from inside the bag some bandages, a small bottle with small green plants inside.

He approached her and sat beside her, putting the stuff in front of him before grabbing her arm delicately.

Raya hissed a little when he touched the bruise but stayed quiet as Callum opened the bottle and got a little green plan and put it against the bruise before wrapping the bandage around. He did the same thing to the other bruises.

Finally, Rayla spoke up after minutes of silence.

“Uh, Callum?” He stopped his process of bandaging another bruise on her arm to look at her, “What are you doing exactly?”

“Oh, sorry. I’ll explain.” He cleared his throat and continued bandaging her arm as he spoke, “Soren had lots of bruises when growing up because of his training, but he was always a big baby when it came to getting them treated if there wasn’t someone he considered a friend around. Ezran was too young, Claudia was always training with her father so I was the only one available.”

“I would watch her put these plants, we call it parsley, on the bruised area and wrap a bandage around it. She explained that it helped the healing of the bruising. I never understood why but it did help Soren a lot. I taught Ezran that as he grew up and started walking, always hitting his face on the ground. I guess he remembered to get some in that small town he went to a few days ago.”

“Oh. I see.” Rayla replied, not sure if she could muster something up when he was so close to her, touching her arm, opening up about his childhood and with the headache she was feeling.

“Sorry if I don’t have an actual explanation to how these little plants can help the bruising” Callum smiled, letting go of the last bandage on her arms, “Do you have more bruises?”

“I think I feel one in my leg.” She said, looking down at her legs with her teal leggings and dark blue boots covering those bruises. Only then she realized what that would imply.

She looked at Callum, whose face was red, clearly understanding it earlier than her.

“W-Well…” He stuttered and Rayla avoided looking at him. For moments, the only thing they could hear was the crackling of the fire in front of them. Rayla’s headache was starting to worsen.

Then, she heard Callum take a deep breath and get in front of her, kneeling again. She looked at him.

“Sorry, can you take the boots off or do you want me to…?” He asked and Rayla felt again all of her blood pump to her face and her ears flicker.

Without ceremony, she slipped off her boot, and rolled a bit of her legging up, just enough to show the bruise in the middle of her leg. Callum, slower than before and with more care, put the parsley on the purple mark and wrapped the bandage around it. When he was done, Rayla didn’t even bother to roll her leggings back down.

“A-Anything else?” He asked, his face still red.

“Besides the pain in my head? Not really.”

Rayla saw Callum’s _“deep in thought expression”_ before he raised his hand towards her face, brushing her hair off her face so he could examine it.

“I can see a small scar right here,” he said, brushing his delicate fingers against her right temple, “It has a small bruise but not as purple as the others. Maybe you had a concussion and that’s why your head is aching.”

He let his hands fall from her face as she already missed it.

“Lay down and rest. I’ll take care of Zym.” He smiled squeezing her hand in reassurance.

Her thoughts were starting to mush together. She had no idea what she was doing when she grabbed his hand and kissed the back of it as a prince would do to a princess.

“Thanks, Callum. For taking care of me.” She said with a smile. Even in her dizzy state, she noticed how Callum struggled in how to react towards her actions but eventually, he just gave her a shy smile, scratched the back of his neck, and let go of her hand as Rayla laid down, hoping for some sleep.

* * *

Rayla sighed as she stared at the empty cave.

No Zym eating his food.

No Callum patching up her bruises.

No dragon to deliver or war to end.

How could things change so much?

She felt some tears coming and threw her head back with a sigh.

She put her hand against her face, trying to mimic the path Callum had done to examine the bruise in her temple but nothing could compare to his touch.

The touch she missed more every day she was away from him.

A cold breeze entered the cave, giving her chills from top to bottom and disheveling her hair.

She put her hair back into place, noticing the knots that were starting to appear from all these days of incessant walking.

She tried combing it with her fingers but to no avail.

If Callum was here, maybe he could help her like he always did.

She shook those thoughts away. Every day on this trip, she found another thing she missed about Callum. It was frustrating. How could she expect to find Viren if even the dullest thing made her question her decisions?

She looked around the cave, finding her blades on the ground. She grabbed one of them, an idea on her mind.

She took her cloak off and flicked her blades open, looking at her reflection in the metal. The bags under her eyes, her cheekbones slightly more prominent, her purple eyes screaming that she was tired.

With her hand that wasn’t busy, she gathered half of her hair on one side of her face.

For one last time, she felt Callum’s delicate fingers running through it, putting it behind her ear, making her smile with even the smallest gestures.

With a sigh, she let the sharp metal go through the white strands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next Chapter:** Callum continues his training

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! [Criticism](https://artfulstar.tumblr.com/post/635356402382225408/for-the-lastest-afterhours-chapter-you-asked-for) is always welcome and it helps me improve! Comments help me have more determination to finish this story, so please do comment! I'll answer every single one of them!  
> ❀ [My main Tumblr!](https://artfulstar.tumblr.com/)  
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